10% RETAINAGE IS NOT A GIVEN. NEGOTIATE IT.
Retainage is negotiable before the subcontract is signed. The key asks are to reduce the rate from 10% to 5%, which many GCs accept on established relationships, add a retainage burndown clause that drops the rate to 5% or zero after 50% complete, exclude T&M work from retainage since there's no completion milestone to tie it to, specify a release timeline of 30 days after substantial completion rather than an open ended one, and cap release on your scope against your own punch list rather than the full project. After signing, the leverage is gone.
Everything on that list is a paragraph in a subcontract, which means it costs nothing to ask for and nothing to draft. What it buys is cash timing across the whole job. Five points of retainage on a $1.5M subcontract is $75,000 you get to use during the project instead of after it, and a burndown at the halfway mark turns the back half of the job into full value billing. The GC's draft is a starting position rather than an offer, and the subs who read it that way get better terms than the subs who sign it.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A retainage burndown clause is a subcontract provision that reduces the retainage percentage once the subcontract reaches a defined completion milestone, typically 50% complete.
WHERE RETAINAGE GETS EXPENSIVE.
10% is the default, not the floor
Most GCs draft subcontracts with 10% retainage because it's standard, and standard is negotiable. On established relationships, or on projects where the GC wants your trade specifically, 5% retainage is frequently achievable. On a $1.5M subcontract, 5% versus 10% retainage is $75,000 in accessible cash during the project rather than $150,000 withheld.
T&M work has no completion milestone
Retainage withheld on T&M service work has no natural release trigger, because there's no punch list on a service call. Without a contract provision excluding T&M work from retainage, or defining a T&M retainage release process, that money stays held indefinitely. Most T&M retainage disputes are preventable by excluding T&M from retainage at contract execution.
Punch list release is GC controlled
Standard retainage language ties release to substantial completion and punch list sign off, and the GC controls both. A job completed in October might not get punch list sign off until February, which is four months of unnecessary retainage hold, because the GC is managing their own punch list process. Adding a timeline provision that requires release within 30 days of substantial completion changes the dynamic entirely.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
That's the balance held in the GC's account on one job at the default rate. At 5% it's half of that, and the difference is working capital you use during the project instead of waiting on for a year.
On a $1.5M contract, a burndown clause releases $7,500 to $15,000 per month of cash flow in the back half of the project. On a 12 month project, a burndown at 50% can recover $5,000 to $20,000 per month in months 7 through 12.
A verified civil client at $6.7M had more than $180,000 in retainage across seven completed or near complete jobs that had never been formally pursued. After the retainage release process was installed, all seven were collected within 60 days, and retainage terms were renegotiated on all new contracts at a 5% rate with a burndown clause at 50% and a 30 day release provision.
THE TABLE IS AT RUN ON CFOS.
Run On CFOS read the retainage statutes for all 50 states and DC on October 17, 2026: 73 of 102 private and public rows cite a retainage statute from the state's official text, 14 found no retainage statute, and 15 aren't verified yet.
Source: Run On CFOS, Retainage laws by state, updated October 17, 2026. The full table and the data are published there. Cite as: Run On CFOS. Retainage laws by state. 2026. Sulphur Prairie Operations, LLC. https://runoncfos.com/retainage-by-state. CC BY 4.0.
RESEARCH FROM OTHER SOURCES.
These figures come from another company's survey, not from SPM's clients. Each one cites the report and the page.
Billd's 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report found 89 percent of business owners negotiate their contracts, and that liquidated damages, payment terms, retainage, scope and project schedules were negotiated most often.
Source: Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 17 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
FOUR ASKS, BEFORE YOU SIGN.
The ask is to reduce retainage from 10% to 5%. The framing is that you're willing to share the owner's performance risk and 10% is disproportionate to your scope. Many GCs accept 5% on trades they trust and want on the project, and on projects where you're the only qualified subcontractor for your scope you've even more leverage. Submit the ask in your own subcontract markup before signing.
The clause drops the retainage percentage to 5%, or to zero, once the subcontract reaches 50% complete. After that trigger, all future pay app billings are paid at full value with no additional retainage withheld. The retainage already withheld stays until punch list, but new billings aren't subject to withholding. On a $1.5M contract, this clause releases $7,500 to $15,000 per month in cash flow in the back half of the project.
Include specific language saying that time and material work billed under this subcontract isn't subject to retainage withholding. If the GC pushes back, offer a 30 day settlement provision on T&M retainage after completion of each T&M scope item, rather than open ended withholding all the way to project closeout.
Add language requiring that retainage be released within 30 days of substantial completion of your scope of work, provided your punch list items are resolved within 14 days of substantial completion. That separates your retainage release from the overall project punch list and gives you a specific date to enforce rather than an indefinite wait on the GC's process.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 to $3,300 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $5,300 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $8,300 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $11,800 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $14,900 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $17,650 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $22,400 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
